Jesus is Anointed with Precious Nard

Fr. Scott Haynes

A Meditation for Monday in Holy Week

A Meditation on John 12:1-9

Jesus therefore, six days before the pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life. And they made him a supper there: and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that were at table with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, he that was about to betray him, said: Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the purse, carried the things that were put therein. Jesus therefore said: Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial. For the poor you have always with you; but me you have not always. A great multitude therefore of the Jews knew that he was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

When a guest entered a Jewish home, one of the ordinary acts of hospitality was the washing of his feet. The roads were dusty, the sandals open, and the feet of the traveler would be soiled from the journey. Water would be brought to cleanse away the dust of the street. At times a small amount of perfume might be added to the water so that the guest, once refreshed, would also carry a pleasant fragrance. Yet such use had to be restrained. One did not waste costly perfume carelessly.

This helps us see more clearly why the anointing at Bethany struck some as so shocking. The rabbis allowed the use of perfume in honoring a guest, but not the lavish use of pure nard, one of the most precious and expensive ointments imaginable. This was no ordinary household fragrance. It was a treasure. Its value could amount to nearly a year’s wages, a sum that in modern terms might be compared to many tens of thousands of dollars. To those watching, the woman’s action seemed excessive, reckless, even scandalous. In their judgment, she was not honoring Jesus wisely but wasting resources that could have been used elsewhere. Yet our Lord immediately defends her. What they call waste, He calls love. What they condemn as extravagance, He reveals as preparation for His burial.

There is another layer of meaning here, one that becomes even more striking when seen in the light of Passover. In the days before the feast, lambs were brought toward Jerusalem to be chosen for sacrifice. The perfect lamb had to be selected in advance and then carefully examined to ensure that it was without blemish. Every part of the animal mattered. Its body, its limbs, even its feet and ankles had to be inspected, since such areas could easily bear marks from the rough and stony hills.

According to this line of reflection, the anointing of Jesus in Bethany six days before Passover takes on a deeply symbolic meaning. He, the true Lamb of God, is anointed at the feet and ankles, just as the Passover lambs were carefully prepared and examined before sacrifice. His anointing points forward to His Passion. It is as though heaven is already marking Him out as the spotless Victim Who will offer Himself for the salvation of the world.

Then comes the second anointing, two days before Passover, when His head is anointed. This too bears the language of preparation. The lamb that was found sound and without defect was set apart for sacrifice. So too Christ, anointed again, is shown forth as the One in Whom there is no stain, no sickness of sin, no defect. He is the Holy One going freely toward His sacrifice.

Thus the sequence is full of sacred meaning. First the feet are anointed six days before Passover. Then the head is anointed two days before. Then comes the sacrifice itself. Christ returns to Jerusalem, celebrates the Passover with His disciples, enters into His agony, is arrested, tried, and finally crucified. Around the ninth hour, about three o’clock in the afternoon, He dies, at the very time when the Passover lambs were being slain. The signs converge. The shadows of the Old Covenant give way to the reality. Jesus is the true Passover Lamb.

So when we read these Gospel passages during Holy Week, we are not merely observing moving scenes from the final days of a good man. We are following the Lamb of God through the solemn mystery of His preparation, His offering, and His sacrifice. We are watching divine love move steadily toward Calvary.

As we accompany Christ through His Sacred Passion and Death during this Holy Week, let us not stand at a distance with cold and calculating hearts. Let us imitate the generous love of the woman who poured out her treasure upon Him. Let us lavish upon our Lord the perfume of prayer, adoration, gratitude, and tender-hearted love. Nothing given to Jesus in love is ever wasted.